


The Thought That Counts

by pinkevilbob



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Ikithon doesn't show up but his mistreatment of one Caleb Widogast does, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Spoilers for Episode 74
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 13:44:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20243815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkevilbob/pseuds/pinkevilbob
Summary: Caleb's having a bad week, so Jester gives him a special gift.





	The Thought That Counts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nonsycamore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nonsycamore/gifts).

> Nonsycamore suggested this scenario to me and I had to write. They may have intended for this to be shipping fic, but it just felt gen to me.

It had not been a good week. Not that Caleb deserved good weeks, but lately life had been looking up. So it did not surprise him when his week turned bad. The college he worked at had a special shipment of residuum come in, and it was all that anyone would talk about. Caleb was getting close to just crawling out the window and hiding out in the bushes. Maybe Nott would've been willing to hide out with him, but he couldn't ask so much of her. Instead Caleb just said nothing and endured it in silence.

So it was a surprise to him when Jester handed him a prettily wrapped box. "Here!" The paper was decorated with sparkly stickers and little drawings of cats and dicks.

"What is this for?" Caleb asked examining the present.

"Well, you've had a bad week, right? So I thought you could use a pick-me-up," Jester said. Her smile was wide and had a hint of fang to it.

"Oh." He didn't realize that he was so obvious. Caleb didn't want to trouble her or anyone else with his troubles. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for my mood to trouble you. I'm fine."

Jester shook her head. "It's not like that at all. I just thought hey, I could do something for a friend and I had fun making it."

"You made me something?" Caleb undid the ribbons and the tape careful not to damage the paper. Whatever was in the box he was sure was going to take him by surprise, but since it was from Jester, he'd love it anyways.

"Yeah!" Jester bounced on her heels watching him open the package. "You can just tear it if you want."

But Caleb didn't want to tear anything that Jester made even if it was just wrapping paper. He carefully folded the paper and set it aside. The box had more dicks on it, and he had to hold back a smile. Caleb pulled off the lid and froze.

"I worked super hard on this making sure that it was perfect, and Nott even helped me find some super cool things for it," Jester said. "It's a suncatcher! You hang it in your window and it shines all sorts of pretty lights on your wall."

It was a mobile with a painted glass of books and cats that looked like Frumpkin, but that wasn't the part that stopped Caleb. Next to the glass were little bits of green crystal. Little slivers of residuum. Bile rose up in Caleb's throat and he struggled to keep it down. His hands shook, and Caleb had to hand the box back to Jester to keep himself from dropping it.

"What's the matter?" Jester asked with a hurt look on her face. "Is something wrong?"

"It's fine," Caleb managed to choke out. "You did a good job on it."

Jester looked at him with wide eyes. "Please don't lie to me. You're scratching your arms. Something's wrong."

Caleb looked down to find his hands at his biceps rubbing at his old scars. He didn't even realize that he was doing anything. "I'm sorry. It's nothing."

"If something's bothering my friend, then it's not nothing," Jester said.

"Your friend?" Caleb never realized that she cared that much.

She nodded. "That's right. My friend. What did I do?"

"I'm fine. It's a silly thing."

"If it hurts you, it's not a silly thing," Jester said. "You're crying."

Caleb touched his face and it was wet with tears. "Allergies."

Jester pulled out a handkerchief. "Can I?"

Caleb nodded and ducked down his head.

Gently, Jester blotted out the tear tracks on his face. "There you go. Do you want to talk about it? Cause sometimes talking to someone can help and I'm super good at this sort of thing."

"Where did you find it?" Caleb didn't want to say anything. Silence would've been easier, but he had to know. "Residuum. The green crystals."

Jester bit her lip. "Behind the science center on campus. It was in a box next to the dumpster, but Nott and me cleaned them really good. Why?"

"Someone's going to lose their job for not disposing of these properly," Caleb said with a sigh.

"Are they dangerous?"

Caleb shook his head. "Only if they're used improperly."

"And they were used improperly with you once, weren't they?" Jester turned her head away from him, but her eyes kept darting back to him.

Caleb stared at her agape. "How did you know?" He never told anyone all that happened back under the tutelage of Trent Ikithon.

Jester shrugged. "I don't know. I just knew that something really bad happened to you once. Back at Soltryce Academy. You always flinch when someone mentions that place. Someone hurt you back then didn't they?"

"It was nothing that I didn't deserve." Caleb tried to smile at Jester, but he couldn't manage it. "It's nothing for you to worry about."

"Cay-leb, it's too late for that. I'm your friend. They did something bad to you, didn't they?"

Caleb sighed. "It was an experiment. I signed up for it. I agreed to it. There's no one to blame." He rubbed at his bicep again. "They wanted to see what would happen if residuum was introduced into the human body."

"Introduced?" Jester picked up one of the residuum shards. "They made you eat these?"

Caleb let out a dry chuckle. "No, not like that. They would make careful incisions and insert the crystals, but only for a brief amount of time." He rolled up his sleeve and pointed at the one of the small scars on his arm.

A small scared gasp escaped Jester's mouth and she dropped the residuum. "But Caleb, there's so many of them."

"Experiments need to be done multiple times," he said as covered his arm back up.

"That doesn't make it okay." A determined pout appeared on Jester's face. "Do you need me to punch them? Cause I could probably convince Nott and Beau to join me on road trip to beat them up."

Caleb found him laughing and for once it was actually genuine. 

"I mean it. Just give me the word and we'll do it," Jester said leaning forward.

"I know, I know," Caleb said with a smile still on his face. "But this is something too big for you to fight. He's untouchable."

"But residuum isn't," Jester pointed out. "And I have a hammer in my purse."

"Really?"

Jester nodded seriously pulling a small hammer out of her bag. "You never know when you need a hammer. So what do you say?"

Caleb examined the hammer. "I say, I know you're a lot stronger than me, but I want first swing."

**Author's Note:**

> Please note, this was not my idea so you can't blame me for it.


End file.
